1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to monitoring areas (e.g., section of an enclosure, geographic location, portion of street, etc.), and in one embodiment, to an improved solution for monitoring a vehicle such as an airplane or other public/private area such as an airport.
2. Background Art
Increasingly, it is desired to provide effective monitoring of public transportation systems and other public areas (e.g., airport terminal, stadium, mall, etc.). In particular, the increased sensitivity to the ever-present threat of terrorism has created a desire for improved solutions for identifying and/or responding to these threats when they occur. Further, the ability to readily prosecute smaller disruptions (e.g., argumentative passenger on a flight), and identify the cause(s) of an accident are also desirable for public transportation systems, and in particular, aircraft.
In response to these needs, several solutions have been proposed. Typically, these solutions incorporate one or more cameras that provide a user the ability to monitor a public area. For example, for an airplane, numerous solutions provide one or more cameras that provide video of the passenger area to the cockpit (e.g., pilot) and/or a ground controller. However, these solutions have several deficiencies. For example, the requirement of multiple cameras leads to an increased weight of the airplane that is frequently prohibitive. Further, the “always on” nature of the video provides a constant distraction to an otherwise busy pilot/ground controller and/or makes the monitoring individual more prone to become inattentive to the video.
To this extent, many of the solutions do not provide any automated operation. For example, many of the solutions cannot automatically detect any events that occur within the monitored area. For those solutions that do attempt to automatically detect events, only a limited number of events can be detected, such as a gunshot and/or an individual approaching a restricted area. As a result, these solutions do not provide a sufficiently comprehensive ability to detect events.
Further, many solutions do not provide sufficient data for some uses. For example, many solutions provide only audio or video data. As a result, events tend to be incorrectly and/or under detected, and the data does not provide a sufficiently complete record for use in court or other analysis. Still further, many solutions require additional communications systems to enable the data to be transmitted from, for example, an aircraft, to an external location, such as the ground control. This adds additional complexity and weight to the aircraft, which adds to the cost of its operation and maintenance.
As a result, a need exists for an improved method and system for monitoring an area. In particular, a need exists for a solution that can operate independently from user oversight, can provide improved accuracy in detecting events by using multiple types of data and/or modes of operation, and/or can transmit data using one or more systems currently implemented in an aircraft.